Penn Virginia Invests in the Eagle Ford

Chesapeake Released 2015 Q1
Penn Virginia 2015 Q1

Penn Virginia Corp. released its first quarter update last week, showing its Eagle Ford operations the big star.

Realated: Penn Virginia Upper Eagle Ford Production Taking Off

Since moving into the Eagle Ford in 2010, Penn Virginia has focused a great deal of its resources on the area. For the first quarter of 2015, the Eagle Ford accounted for 87% of the company's production (21,390 BOEPD of 24,721 BOEPD). Looking ahead, 96% of 2015 spending will go towards Eagle Ford development.

Q1 Highlights

  • Total production increased 17% over the first quarter of 2014
  • 25% Decrease in Average Eagle Ford Well Cost Since Early Fourth Quarter 2014
  • Decrease for unit production costs: $10.68 per BOE from $11.52 per BOE.
  • Over the past 12 months, 23 Upper Eagle Ford wells have been brought on line
“While continuing to increase production, our primary focus has been on cutting well costs and improving our operational execution,” said H. Baird Whitehead, President and Chief Executive Officer of Penn Virginia, in a conference call following the release. “With 23 wells completed over the past 12 months, we feel that we have successfully de-risked the Upper Eagle Ford across much of our acreage and have achieved excellent average results.”

As of October 2014, Penn Virginia had approximately 145,500 gross acres in the Eagle Ford Shale play in Gonzales and Lavaca Counties, Texas.  Read more about Penn Virginia in the Eagle Ford

 

Texas Earthquake Study Under Review

4.0 Quake Hits North Texas
RCC Studies Texas Quakes

The Texas Railroad Commission is hosting a meeting to discuss the findings of a recent study on seismic activity in Texas.

Related: Texas Earthquakes Linked to Fracking

In April, scientists published a study in the scientific journal, Nature Communications, confirming that oil and gas activities are likely to blame for a series of earthquakes in Azle  and Reno Texas. At a meeting scheduled for June 5th, Commissioner Ryan Sitton and other technical staff will join the scientists and researchers to discuss the findings.

Commissioner Sitton has established the following goals for the meeting:

1) To understand the nature of this and similar studies

2) To explore what additional data could contribute to better scientific understanding on the processes that may be involved

3) To assess how these data might be efficiently and economically obtained

4) To determine what additional information could be requested of operators

5) To consider what regulatory changes the Railroad Commission could make to ensure that oil and gas continues to be developed safely yet with minimal economic impact in Texas

6) To discuss what future research and study is taking place that will enhance and further refine the scientific findings for Azle and other areas in Texas.

Details

  • Friday, June 5, 2015 at 9:00 AM CST
  • William B. Travis State Office Building
  • 1701 N. Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas
  • Room 12-126.1 (12th floor)
  • Access live stream at  www.rrc.state.tx.us

Matador Still Keen on the Eagle Ford

Chesapeake Released 2015 Q1
Matador Released 2015 Q1

Matador Resources announced first quarter earnings and set hopes for further Eagle Ford activity.

Related: Matador Reduces Eagle Ford Rigs in 2015

In an earnings call on May 7th, Matador executives discussed the company’s $50.2 million loss for the first quarter of 2015, a drastic change from the $16.4 million profit reported one year ago.

Low oil prices have taken a toll on the company's earnings and caused them to temporarily suspend operations in the Eagle Ford Shale.

“We are looking, hopefully that circumstances will suggest to be acting again in the Eagle Ford in 2016. We are very open to acquiring and are in the process of acquiring some additional acreage there (EFS) to build up our inventory. We feel we’ve got 250 or so wells to drill over there with welcome deals if some people have expiring acreage that they would like for us to be interested in. We’ve got a lot of good locations left there and we are really high on the Eagle Ford still.”
— Joe Foran - CEO

Q1 Highlights:

  • Company growth: Up from 400 barrels of oil per day to over 11,000 barrels a day
  • Reduced operating costs 30% to 40%  through vendor adjustments and reducing number of days on wells and complete them better and then our gas lift system on production.
  • Production continues to meet  & exceed our expectations and for the first time in our history, we produce more than 2 million BOEs in a single quarter, recording production of 2.1
  • Completed the merger with HEYCO that included 29 new employees in Roswell, New Mexico.

Eagle Ford Rigs Drop to 124

Eagle Ford Rig Count
Eagle Ford Rigs Drop

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell this week by one with 124 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday,

In recent Eagle Ford news, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the popularly named, “Denton Fracking Bill” on Monday that allows state authority to override local decisions about oil and gas regulations.

Read more:“Denton Fracking Bill” Now Law

The U.S. rig count fell by three, ending with 885 rigs running by midday Friday.  A total of 222 rigs were targeting natural gas (a decrease of one from the previous week) and 659 were targeting oil in the U.S. (one less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)373 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas rigs in the Eagle Ford fell to 21 this week and natural gas prices traded at $2.89/mmbtu, an decrease of  $.13 from the previous week.

The oil rig count increased to 103 with WTI oil prices inching upwards this week to $59.72, an increase of $.21. A total of 116 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero rigs are drilling directional wells, and vertical rigs stayed at eight.  Karnes county leads Eagle Ford drilling this week running 21 rigs, while LaSalle (19) and Webb (18) following closely. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

 

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

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What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.

Read more at bakerhughes.com